Systems and methods of orienting a cant in lumber mills

Abstract

Processing of a cant may include determining a rotational orientation about a longitudinal axis of the cant that optimizes a recovery from the cant from subsequent sawing operations. Such may include optimizing a width of a board that will be produced dependent on the particular rotational longitudinal orientation. Such may include determining a surface area of a board which would be produced, a thickness of a board that would be produced, and/or a volume of a board that would be produced. Such may include accounting for any premium associated with various width categories in which a board that would be produced would fit. Such may account for any premium associated with grade or quality of a board that would be produced. A corresponding signal may provide information to a human operator and/or automated machinery to orient the cant in an optimized orientation.

1 . A method of orienting a cant in lumber mills, comprising:
 acquiring via a subsystem at least dimensional data from a cant in a first condition;   determining from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate lateral dimension of a plurality of faces of the cant by at least one processor;   determining, based at least in part on the determined at least approximate lateral dimensions, an orientation of the cant that would result in a board sawn from the cant having a selected face from the plurality of faces; and   providing an orientation signal by the at least one processor, the orientation signal indicative of an orientation of the cant based at least in part on the determined orientation of the cant.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining by the at least one processor a width category for each of a number of boards that would be sawn from the cant at a number of respective orientations, and   assessing any width category premium associated with the determined width categories, and wherein determining an orientation of the cant by the at least one processor is based at least in part on the assessment of the width category premium associated with the determined width categories.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate longitudinal dimension associated with at least one exposed face of the cant by the at least one processor; and   wherein determining an orientation of the cant by the at least one processor is based at least in part on the determined at least approximate longitudinal dimension associated with the plurality of faces of the cant.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 determining a value of a board that would be sawn from the cant based at least in part on an area or a volume of a board that would be sawn from the cant, the volume equal to a product of at least one of the determined lateral dimensions multiplied by the determined at least approximate longitudinal dimension of the cant and a thickness equal to a defined sawing depth.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein acquiring via a subsystem at least dimensional data from a cant in a first condition includes acquiring grade data which represents aberrations, if any, in a portion of the cant. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 determining a value of a board that would be sawn from the cant based at least in part on the determined at least approximate grade for the at least one of the faces of the cant.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 recommending the orientation of the cant to a human operator; and   receiving a command from the human operator, the command indicative of a desired orientation of the cant.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining by the at least one processor whether the cant is in the orientation indicated by the orientation signal;   sending orientation signals by the at least one processor that cause the cant to be automatically rotated into the orientation.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining an orientation of the cant comprises determining based on the determined at least approximate lateral dimensions the orientation of the cant that will result in sawing a board having a width that is as close to without being less than half of a foot. 
     
     
         10 . A system of orienting a cant in a lumber mill, comprising:
 a data acquisition subsystem having at least one data collection component positioned to acquire at least dimensional data from a cant in a first condition;   at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium that stores at least one of instructions and data;   at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the data acquisition subsystem and the at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium, that, upon execution of the instructions:   determines from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate lateral dimension of a plurality of exposed faces of the cant;   determines from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate lateral dimension of at least one exposed face of a plurality of faces of the cant;   determines, based at least in part on the determined at least approximate lateral dimensions, an orientation of the cant that would result in a board sawn from the cant from a selected exposed face; and   provides an orientation signal indicative of an orientation of the cant based at least in part on the determined orientation of the cant.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the at least one processor further:
 determines a width category for each of a number of boards that would be sawn from the cant at a number of respective orientations, and 
 assesses any width category premium associated with the determined width categories, and determines the orientation of the cant based at least in part on the assessed width category premium associated with the determined width categories. 
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the at least one processor further:
 determines from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate longitudinal dimension associated with at least one exposed face of the cant by the at least one processor; and 
 determines the orientation of the cant based at least in part on the determined at least approximate longitudinal dimension associated with the at least one exposed face of the cant. 
 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the at least one processor further:
 determines a value of a board that would be sawn from the cant based at least in part on an area or a volume of a board that would be sawn from the cant, the volume equal to a product of at least one of the determined lateral dimensions multiplied by the determined at least approximate longitudinal dimension of the cant and a thickness equal to a defined sawing depth. 
 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the data acquisition subsystem further acquires grade data which represents aberrations, if any, in a portion of the cant, and the at least one processor determines from the acquired grade data an at least approximate grade for at least one of the faces of the cant by the at least one processor. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the at least one processor further:
 recommends the orientation of the cant to a human operator. 
 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the at least one processor further:
 sends orientation signals to a portion of a flipper table that cause the cant to be automatically rotated into the orientation. 
 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the data acquisition subsystem includes at least one laser scanner acquisition device and at least one image acquisition device. 
     
     
         18 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions that upon execution of the instructions:
 determines from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate lateral dimension of a plurality of exposed faces of a cant;   determines from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate lateral dimension of at least one exposed face of a plurality of faces of the cant; and   determines, based at least in part on the determined at least approximate lateral dimensions, an orientation of the cant that would result in a board sawn from the cant from a selected face.   
     
     
         19 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18  further storing instruction that upon execution of the instructions:
 determines a width category for each of a number of boards that would be sawn from the cant at a number of respective orientations, and 
 assesses any width category premium associated with the determined width categories, and determines the orientation of the cant based at least in part on the assessed width category premium associated with the determined width categories. 
 
     
     
         20 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18  further storing instruction that upon execution of the instructions:
 determines from the acquired dimensional data an at least approximate longitudinal dimension associated with at least one face of the cant by the at least one processor; and 
 determines the orientation of the cant based at least in part on the determined at least approximate longitudinal dimension associated with the at least one face of the cant.